Softball Soars To Doubleheader Sweep Of Becker College, 8-3 And 11-2
Softball Soars To Doubleheader Sweep Of Becker College, 8-3 And 11-2
LEICESTER, Mass. – Elms College sophomore shortstop
Jenna
Lipscomb (Cambridge, Mass.) went a combined 6 for 7 at
the plate with three runs scored and two RBI to help lift the
Blazers to a New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) doubleheader
sweep of Becker College in the regular season finale at Russell
Field in Leicester, Mass.
With the victories, Elms improves to 17-15 overall, 14-2 in league play, while Becker falls to 10-24 on the season, 5-9 in NECC action.
Game One – Elms 8, Becker 3
With the score locked at 3-3 with three innings played, Elms broke the stalemate with a pair of runs in the top of the fourth. Junior pitcher Ani Ramsdell (Gardner, Mass.) singled to left field to lead off the inning before junior designated player Destinee Meeker (Bantam, Conn.) sent a one-out, two-run homer over the fence in left field, giving the Blazers a 5-3 edge.
Elms added to its lead in the top of the fifth when senior second baseman Ally Graffum (Ipswich, Mass.) legged out an infield single and then scored when freshman first baseman Sarah Buckley (Wilbraham, Mass.) cracked a three-bagger to right field. Sophomore left fielder Marlene DiRaimo (Cranston, R.I.) then reached on a throwing error on a sacrifice bunt attempt, allowing Buckley to sprint home with the second run of the frame and give the Blazers a four-run cushion. A sacrifice bunt moved DiRaimo into scoring position for relief pitcher Courtney Hampton (Westfield, Mass.), whose single to center field scored DiRaimo from second, upping the lead to 8-3.
Hampton, who replaced Ramsdell in the circle to begin the fourth inning, tossed four scoreless, hitless innings of relief with seven strikeouts to earn her 11th win of the season (11-6). Becker starter Paige Needham (Worcester, Mass.) suffered the loss for the Hawks.
Elms scored twice in the top of the first thanks to a pair of Becker miscues, before the Hawks crossed the plate with a run in the bottom of the second when Shannon Tibbetts (Warren, Mass.) scored on a wild pitch, cutting the Blazers' lead to 2-1.
The Blazers extended the edge back to two runs in the top of the third when DiRaimo drove in Lipscomb from second with two outs to make the score 3-1.
Becker answered with two runs in the home half of the third when Felicia Laufer (Salem, Conn.) and Rachel Weidele (Woodbridge, N.J.) connected for back-to-back doubles and Tibbetts delivered a sacrifice fly to even the score at 3-3.
Graffum and Lipscomb each finished with three hits and two runs
scored in game one, while DiRaimo and Meeker drove in two runs
apiece.
Game Two – Elms 11, Becker 2 (5 innings)
Trailing 1-0 after an inning of play, Elms' offense hit stride in the top of the second when it plated seven runs, sparked by a bases-loaded RBI groundout off the bat of sophomore designated player Alicia Campbell (Stockbridge, Mass.). Meeker followed that with an RBI single to left field before a walk to senior catcher Tiffany Williams (Berlin, Conn.) loaded the bases once again. Senior outfielder Kim Lastowski (Turners Falls, Mass.) was then hit by a pitch to bring in a run before Lipscomb smacked a two-run single to left field and advanced to second on a Hawks' throwing error that also allowed a third run to score. Two batters later, Buckley connected for a two-out RBI single to give Elms a 7-1 advantage.
The Blazers extended the lead to nine in the top of the third when
Lastowski blasted a two-run bases-loaded single up the middle,
before Graffum later earned a bases-loaded RBI free pass to set the
score at 10-1.
Becker managed a run in the bottom of the third on a solo home run to left field off the bat of Lindsay Hanna (Portland, Maine), but an RBI single through the left side in the top of the fifth by sophomore Jen Killion (Cambridge, Mass.) pushed the Blazers' lead back to nine (11-2).
Meeker, Elms' starting pitcher, kept Becker off the board in the bottom of the fifth frame to seal her fourth win of the season (five-inning, complete-game outing) and helped the Blazers post their eighth mercy-rule victory of the season.
Becker starter Jessica Daniels (Webster, Mass.) took the loss for the Hawks.
Lipscomb cracked three hits and drove in two runs in the second contest, while Buckley registered two hits of her own.
DiRaimo, Meeker and freshman third baseman Rachel Butt (Agawam, Mass.) scored twice each in the winning effort.
